Jaw pain, small lump (mouth ulcer)

[beth0277]

I've had plenty of mouth sores in my life. In fact, it seems that I always have one. The other day I was eating something and really, really took a big bite of my mouth in the process. The area is very painful right now and I am using antibiotic mouth wash that I was given once by an oral surgeon to speed up the healing. It is very painful to where it hurts to even eat anything, but I've had these before and I know what they are. Basically just an ulcer/tear from biting it so hard. Anyway, I noticed this morning that my jaw kind of hurts too. That seemed odd but I assumed since it was the same side as the ulcer that it was just hurting from that. Well I felt it and there seems to be a bump. Very tiny, and I can't truly tell if it is a bump or a ridge, but it does feel like a tiny bump that moves. Of course the first thing that comes to mind is jaw cancer, but I know that you have lymph nodes in your jaw also. Could it be just a slightly swollen lymph node from the ulcer? It does hurt, which I *think* is a good sign. I see an oral surgeon in a month to get my wisdom teeth out but I don't know that we will have time to go over anything else. Should I give it a few days and see what happens? Make an appointment with the oral surgeon? Does this sound normal?

[vardnas]

Could it be just a slightly swollen lymph node from the ulcer?

Yes, that's exactly what it is. Your body, believe it or not, is doing what it's DESIGNED to do in this instance.

I used to get these bad pimples around my ears, and without fail, the nodes in that area would flair up as well until the pimples went away. This is the body's natural healing process, beth. Nothing to be concerned about.

[LindaRK]

Yep, your body is doing what it's designed to do - HEAL!

Isn't it great when something we think is major is actually benign?